1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to cable assemblies and more particularly in a preferred embodiment to environmentally sealed cable assemblies for connecting of multiple cables to components having plug and socket connectors. The plug and socket connectors include female and male terminals mechanically locked in terminal receiving channels within molded housings of the connectors in a novel manner to prevent the terminals from being forcefully removed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior art assemblies include means of locking terminals in terminal receiving channels of connector housings. Structure in the housings such as resilient material locking fingers with a nib at one end which snaps into a locking groove in the shaft of each inserted terminal are used to hold terminals in place, providing a primary means for retaining the terminals within the housing. Such an arrangement could not be expected to prevent forceful removable of the terminals from the housing since slightly higher than normal force upon the cables often would be sufficient to cause the terminals to deflect the fingers removing the nibs from the grooves.
In addition to having grooved terminals and resilient material locking fingers for primary retention purposes, secondary locking means have also been used to provide an additional lock for keeping the terminals in place during handling and use. One such secondary locking means for sealed plugs and sockets have included a wedged lock bar that is driven into the plug housing behind the primary locking fingers to frictionally hold in place the fingers so that slightly higher than normal force would not remove the terminals from the housing.
Such a lock bar provides adequate secondary locking, but during disassembly of the plug or socket, it may be awkward to remove the wedge lock bar without damaging the pin terminals and the housing. This locking means, which is forced into place, is usually adequate for one or two cables per connector but is inadequate for multiple cable connecting.
To provide a locking bar suitable for use as a secondary locking means in sealed assemblies housing multiple connections, it is desirable to provide a secondary locking means that will achieve locking of the primary locking mechanism in the interior of the housing since no openings in the housing walls are allowed due to the nature of sealed connectors. Also, it is desirable to provide a lock bar that can be readily removed from the housing without damage to the housing, the terminals or the primary locking mechanism.
To obtain the above-mentioned objectives, a search for various other means to enhance the locking characteristics of the secondary lock bar was initiated. This search resulted in improved secondary locking devices of the present invention.